This is for an extremely simple EP Baitfish fly. Use any colour you want, this one being "Perchy", but by using blends and trimming thinner you can get some great Minnow, Parr or just about any kind of fish really.
Materials :-
Hooks - For Trout sized streamers, size 6 long shank or bigger. For Pike, this is a Manta sea hook, size 4/0 but I would normally use a short shanked Gamakatsu SC15 (as supplied by Ben) as the short shank is better suited to EP fibres.
Body, none
Wing, EP Fibres in any colour combination you want.
Thread, Uni Big Fly or fine Mono.
Step 1
Flatten the barb and place the hook in the vice. Run a bed of thread to cover about half an inch of the shank near the eye. If using thread, apply either super glue or nail varnish to protect it.
Step 2
Turn the hook upside down if you want, and add a small amount of your "belly" EP fibre. I would say about "half a pencils" worth in diameter. The hanks are 10 inches long, so let about 5-7 inches stick out behind the tying in point. This will be trimmed later. Apply glue/varnish.
Step 3
Turn the hook the right way up again and and add the "back" of the fly using the same method. Make sure it is bound down well. Take your thread towards the eye of the hook but stop about an eighth of an inch short.
Step 4
Now take both the top and belly materials and fold them back on there selves, using your thumb nail to push the fibres down well. It will pull the thread back a little, but dont worry. You don't need to be too neat here as the eye will be glued directly onto this thread. Build up a head and whip finish. Apply varnish/head cement.
Step 5
This is not a great example, but it shows the principle I guess. Take the fly out the vice and using a fine brush, give it a good brushing. Then use scissors to trim to shape, this one being a Perch, I left it fairly deep profiled. If I was doing a smaller Minnow, I would trim off more top and bottom and run it under boiling water which "sets" the fibres in a nice shape. Once trimmed and brushed, add the eye to the flat section of thread left by doubling back the EP fibres, and glue. I added stripes and a spot of red to give it more "life". The head is finished with EZ Body.
Examples
Same principle as above, but with more subtle colours. Notice the SC15 hooks sitting right in the head.
You can add sparkle, bodies and all sorts, but the simple, fast to tie, and super light flys work well.
Tied in blue and white, slim and about 4 inches they are perfect for MAckeral and Sea Trout.
Hope that gives an idea anyway
